Pest management in tropical forestry

Abstract

The term “Pest” is used in the heading for this chapter in a broad sense to encompass all the living and nonliving agencies which damage living plants. In the text, however, it is mostly used in a narrower sense to include only various animals; while the terms “Diseases” and “Disorders” are used for damage caused by various groups of living plants (pathogens) and various nonliving agencies, respectively. In natural ecosystems, plants have evolved gradually over many years and have therefore become adapted to the environment and all the other components of their own ecosystem. Damage from pests and diseases does occur in natural ecosystems, but it is often greatly exacerbated in the unnatural conditions of managed and plantation forests. Natural ecosystems have also become changed by the international movement of plants, and inadvertently their pests and diseases, and by man-made changes to the environment.